I am finally going to take the plunge and attempt a DIY rear yard landscape project that is a bit involved. If I have success I will move into the front yard. $20k estimate from a local electrician for the entire front and rear is too rich for me so I thought I would give it a go. I have researched my questions but I am still confused over these terms/issues. I have a perfect spot for a transformer on either the right side or left side middle of my rear yard. It is a large rear yard of about 1/2 acre.There is a free form pool in the center and a two level large boulder wall from the middle near the house down to the pool with stone steps in the middle to the pool deck.. About 200' from the house to the rear is a aluminum fence backed by a wooded area. Here is my concern/s. I want to light the rear fence line that backs to woods with fixtures to illuminate the backdrop a bit and that will take approx 8-10 lights. The second area would be illuminating various trees/shrubs in small beds around the pool (5-6 smaller beds). The third area is the two level boulder wall with plant material that leads from rear of home to pool deck and has a walkway in the middle and another paver walkway on the right and left side that curve in a c fashion to the pool deck. If I install the transformer on the right side I would need a a 30' rum then start the first light of say 8-10. The second run would handle the bed areas around the pool. I would need a third run for the boulder walls and maybe a fourth for the paver walkways (3 total). There will be maybe 8 lights for the rear fence, 9 for the boulder areas (maybe 3.5 watt led's) and maybe 4 path lights for the center steps to the pool deck. Can someone explain a hub to me? Is it one run then the other lines branch off of it? If so is it powered because if not what is the benefit? How many main lines can a transformer handle...two? Would it be beneficial albeit more expensive to use a second transformer on the left side of the property to handle one of the three areas mentioned? I can't seem to download pics says too large even one at a time. Thanks for any input
Hi, ADAD. I think to get the most meaningful recommendations possible, it would be a good idea to attach some photos of your yard. Photos often help guide others to suggest ideas, solutions to challenges, and design approaches that you might not have considered. Having said that, I'll try to address your questions as best I can. First, hubs are powered by your transformer via a home run wire. They are essentially enclosures for your fixture connections. VOLT sells two types of above ground podlike hubs. One contains a built in module with connections for up to seven light fixtures and a home run wire. Think of it as a power strip housed inside a capsule. The second type of hub lacks the aforementioned module but instead allows you to house wirenut connections inside of the pod. Unlike direct burial connectors (a different kind of hub) above ground hubs allow you easy access to your fixture connections and they make it super easy when you need to troubleshoot fixture connection or transformer issues. They're also huge time savers when compared to connecting your fixtures with direct bury wirenut connections. Very complex lighting plans often include a combination of direct burial and above ground hub connections. VOLT sells a wide range of transformers for lighting projects of all sizes and levels of complexity. Many are ideal for LED lighting and others are great when you want to use both LED and halogen lamps. Some offer more features than others. Some of the factors influencing your choice of transformer are the number of lights in your project, the length of your wire runs, and how you want to control your lights. Some transformers offer basic timer and photocell functions. More sophisticated models allow you greater programmability. For example, with some transformers, you can more precisely determine when lights turn on and off and some even allow you create zones whereby some sets of lights turn on at a specific time while others remain off. Even basic transformers offer accept multiple wire runs. To answer your last question, again, providing a sketch or photographs of your property would help members provide the most meaningful suggestions and advice. https://www.voltlighting.com/landscape-lighting-low-voltage-junction-hub/p/VAC-HUB1-PBR https://www.voltlighting.com/low-voltage-landscape-lighting-pro-junction-hub/p/VAC-HUB4-PBK https://www.voltlighting.com/landscape-lighting-low-voltage-transformers/c/21
Don't mind the dirty travertine, had a monsoon here that washed out the beds into the pool deck. Electric is to right of pool. I would like to light the boulder walls, beds around the pool and maybe the back fence line.
The photos are quite small - difficult to see or edit. But, from what you have described, a typical combination of path lights, spot/flood lights and maybe hardscape lights would be ideal. Path lights around the perimeter of the patio and in garden beds would provide excellent area lighting at night and enhance the living spaces. For any of the smaller trees/shrubs, you could use a compact spotlight such as an MR11 or MR8 style bulb - perhaps even a smaller floodlight if you'd prefer to illuminate a cluster of the smaller plants. If you were looking to highlight a stone/bolder wall while providing some area light beneath it, hardscape lights would be ideal. If you mean't illuminating a group of bolders or stone wall from a distance, a spotlight with wide-angle or smaller flood light would be ideal for that.
Thank you so much. A friend if mine thought that path lights focusing light on the pool deck would be helpful at night, is that what you are recommending? Would you stay at 5 watt for most fixtures or mix in some lesser wattage for the boulder plant levels?
Low-voltage path and area lights would certainly be ideal for providing illumination for the living spaces and walkways while also providing subtle illumination on any bordering plants or garden beds. The height of our path lights can also be adjusted using extension risers if needed. We offer dozens of styles as well - classic, modern, decorative, directional, and even bollard lights - the type to use would come down to personal preference really. A mix of wattages is typically ideal when illuminating a variety of objects and spaces- the most important thing is usually maintaining the same color temperature. Basically, you wouldn't want an entire garden illuminated with 2700K and then have a large tree directly next to that garden illuminated with 3000K (the difference would be noticeable).
